Though Rubio eventually opposed Obama’s call for military action — saying he didn’t think it would be effective as proposed — even in doing so, he argued that the U.S. should support efforts by the Syrian people to topple Assad “and replace him with a secular and moderate government they deserve.”

Though the philosophical contrast between Rand Paul and the rest of the GOP field may be starker and thus easier to describe, at the end of the day, no Republican president is going to adopt a foreign policy akin to Paul’s in the near future.

Right now, a broader cross-section of Republicans are torn between the failures of the Bush administration’s efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East and the perils of Obama’s reluctance to project American power. That’s why, ultimately, the debate between Cruz and Rubio is more relevant.